Rape Crisis Centres

Anne Moffat: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what progress has been made on provision of emergency funding for rape crisis centres.

Maria Eagle: 19 rape crisis centres have been awarded grants from the second and final round of this special fund, to a total of nearly £706,000, ensuring that they have been able to remain open.
	The Government continue to step up on action to tackle rape and bring offenders to justice. The latest figures show that in 2006 there were nearly 800 convictions for rape, compared to just over 500 in 1997, an increase of over 45 per cent.

Textile Industry: Manpower

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people were employed in the  (a) weaving,  (b) spinning,  (c) dying,  (d) finishing and making-up and  (e) silk industry sectors of the clothing and textiles industry at the latest date for which figures are available.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on how many people were employed in the (a) weaving, (b) spinning, (c) dying, (d) finishing and making-up and (e) silk industry sectors of the clothing and textiles industry at the latest date for which figures are available (240416).
	Table 1, attached, shows the number of employee jobs in the weaving, spinning, finishing and making-up, and silk industries in Great Britain in 2006.
	Estimates of employment are usually provided using the Labour Force Survey. However because of the interest in industrial sector, your question has been answered using the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI), which provides estimates at the 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification 2003 (SIC03) level.
	'The ABI is a business survey which provides estimates of employment according to the number of jobs. The estimates exclude people who are self-employed workers in the industry sectors requested. Please note that dyeing employment estimates cannot be provided separately using 4-digit SIC03, and estimates for the silk industry are also included under weaving and spinning.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the Annual Business Inquiry are subject to margins of uncertainly.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of employee jobs in selected clothing and textile industries( 1) , 2006—Great Britain 
			   Number (thousand) 
			 Weaving(2) 7 
			 Spinning(3) 5 
			 Finishing and Making-up(4) 86 
			 Silk(5) 3 
			 (1) Using four-digit Standard Industrial Classification 2003 (SIC03) (2) The four digit SIC03 codes used are 1721-1725 (which includes weaving of silk). (3) The four digit SIC03 codes used are l711-1717 (which includes spinning of silk). (4) The four digit SIC03 codes used are 1740-1330. (5) The four digit SIC03 codes used are1715 and 1724.  Source: Annual Business Inquiry

Environment Agency: Manpower

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects the Environment Agency's first flooding engineers will graduate from university and take up positions in the agency.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The first Environment Agency Foundation Degree students in flood and coastal engineering graduated from the University of the West of England in 2006. To date, 75 students have graduated and over 90 per cent. are employed by the Environment Agency as technician engineers.
	There are currently 138 engineering graduates and students training with the Environment Agency under a national development programme that includes the Foundation Degree students, Masters Degree students from various universities and graduates under professional training agreements. The Environment Agency expects that 50 engineering staff will join its business each year by 2010 through this programme.

Police Authorities

Hugh Bayley: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what consideration the Electoral Commission has given to the arrangements which would be necessary to elect members of police authorities.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it is aware of proposals in the July 2008 Policing Green Paper for directly-elected crime and policing representatives in England and Wales. It plans to give further consideration to the administrative arrangements for such elections, including the time scales for implementing new elections and the funding provided for their administration, when more detailed proposals are published.

Transport: North East

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Government has spent on capital transport infrastructure projects in the North East in each year since 1997.

Paul Clark: The funding allocation provided by the Department for Transport for capital transport infrastructure projects in the North East in each year since 1997 is shown as follows.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Integrated transport block  Highways maintenance  Other funding( 1)  Total funding for transport infrastructure projects 
			 2007-08 33.920 42.181 17.023 93.124 
			 2006-07 33.180 44.165 12.002 89.347 
			 2005-06 33.400 44.170 20.316 97.886 
			 2004-05 40.337 47.095 20.199 107.631 
			 2003-04 36.500 35.878 31.420 103.798 
			 2002-03 35.400 36.120 34.474 105.994 
			 2001-02 34.940 34.195 25.792 94.927 
			 2000-01 16.100 40.820 40.820 97.740 
			 (1) Other funding comprises funding major schemes, capital de-trunking and capital road safety. 
		
	
	Funding allocations made prior to Local Transport Plan Funding.
	
		
			   Total allocation (£ million) 
			 1999-2000 42.500 
			 1998-99 31.981 
			 1997-98 40.119 
		
	
	Since April 1997 the Government have also provided specific capital funding for the Tyne and Wear Metro amounting to £65.626 million. Up to and including 2004-05 this was provided solely as revenue support although Nexus were able to use this for capital spending on the Metro.

Directgov

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which sub-sites of the Directgov website have  (a) received the most direct visitors and  (b) recorded the most online transactions in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the performance of each sub-site against objectives in creating two-way engagement between the citizen and government.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Directgov Motoring section and electronic vehicle licensing (eVL) were the sub-sites that received the most direct visitors and recorded the most online transactions in the last 12 months.
	We are looking at how we might make citizens who complete a transaction on one of these sub-sites aware of what else Directgov has to offer. This is relatively simple to do but requires the Departments who manage the content or own the transaction on the sub-sites to include the necessary changes to allow us to advertise other services.
	One area where we have seen a degree of success in this area is with the Act on CO2 campaign. The offline advertising calls for citizens to search on line for campaign without mentioning Directgov. Yet we know that about a fifth of people accessing the Act on CO2 campaign site have come from a promotion on the main Directgov website suggesting that they found the campaign while looking at something else on Directgov.

Social Security Benefits

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many  (a) benefit payments and  (b) pension payments were issued by giro cheque in each (i) constituency and (ii) region in each of the last three years.

Rosie Winterton: The number of benefit and pension accounts paid by cheque in each constituency for each of the last three years will be placed in the Library.
	The number of benefit and pension accounts paid by cheque in each region for the same period are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  All cheque payments by government office region and pension/other benefit: April 2006 to April 2008 
			   All  Other benefit  State pension 
			  April 2006
			 All 469,680 365,100 104,580 
			 
			 North East 23,870 19,660 4,210 
			 North West 58,880 47,350 11,530 
			 Yorks and Humber 43,350 33,620 9,730 
			 East Midlands 32,780 26,030 6,750 
			 West Midlands 46,930 37,390 9,530 
			 East 35,830 27,770 8,050 
			 London 60,430 49,440 11,000 
			 South East 52,400 39,600 12,790 
			 South West 43,920 29,920 14,000 
			 Wales 25,950 19,720 6,230 
			 Scotland 45,350 34,600 10,750 
			 
			  April 2007
			 All 453,900 366,440 87,460 
			 
			 North East 23,850 20,300 3,550 
			 North West 57,170 47,550 9,620 
			 Yorks and Humber 40,000 32,210 7,790 
			 East Midlands 32,040 26,440 5,590 
			 West Midlands 46,960 38.980 7,980 
			 East 35,010 28,150 6,860 
			 London 57,340 48,250 9,080 
			 South East 49,780 38,820 10,960 
			 South West 42,930 30,980 11,950 
			 Wales 26,230 20,860 5,370 
			 Scotland 42,600 33,890 8,710 
			 
			  April 2008
			 All 422,040 346,350 75,690 
			 
			 North East 24,460 21,280 3,180 
			 North West 52,690 44,460 8,230 
			 Yorks and Humber 36,790 29,880 6,910 
			 East Midlands 30,540 25,730 4,810 
			 West Midlands 43,960 37,140 6,830 
			 East 31,890 25,960 5,930 
			 London 51,370 43,780 7,590 
			 South East 47,160 37,590 9,560 
			 South West 38,670 28,120 10,550 
			 Wales 25,280 20,540 4,740 
			 Scotland 39,250 31,870 7,380 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Figures are at April in each year, 2006 to 2008. 3. Figures refer to payment accounts. Claimants with more than one account will be counted for each account. Figures only relate to accounts live and in payment on the specified date. 4. Child benefit is administered by HM Revenue and Customs and War Pensions are administered by MOD. These benefits have therefore been excluded.  Source: DWP, Information Directorate, 100 per cent. data

Alcoholic Drinks: Greater London

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many alcohol-related emergency admissions to hospitals there have been in  (a) the London Borough of Bexley,  (b) the London Borough of Greenwich and  (c) the London Borough of Bromley in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) age and (ii) sex of patient admitted.

Dawn Primarolo: The number of alcohol-related finished admissions in the London boroughs of Bexley, Greenwich and Bromley for each year since 2002-03 to 2006-07 can be found in the following table. Data for earlier years are not available. 2006-07 is the latest year for which data are available.
	
		
			  Number of alcohol-related finished admissions 
			2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			  London borough  Age  Total  Males  Females  Total  Males  Females  Total  Males  Females 
			 Bexley Under 16 15 * * 30 10 20 25 7 18 
			  16-24 38 * * 58 44 14 80 50 30 
			  25-34 69 43 27 81 54 27 90 63 27 
			  35-44 95 60 35 141 101 40 163 98 66 
			  45-54 110 79 31 136 99 37 138 84 55 
			  55-64 104 71 33 130 85 46 161 104 56 
			  65-74 106 68 38 131 93 37 169 110 60 
			  75 or over 168 86 82 247 128 119 282 145 137 
			  Total 706 439 267 954 614 340 1,109 661 449 
			
			 Bromley Under 16 10 * * 22 11 11 19 7 12 
			  16-24 71 * * 101 60 41 132 80 52 
			  25-34 106 57 49 120 72 48 121 71 50 
			  35-44 155 87 68 196 113 83 235 138 97 
			  45-54 199 129 70 236 158 78 283 185 98 
			  55-64 196 136 60 276 172 104 341 233 108 
			  65-74 228 155 73 276 187 89 349 233 116 
			  75 or over 443 225 218 559 282 277 674 355 320 
			  Total 1,408 870 538 1,786 1,054 732 2,154 1,303 851 
			
			 Greenwich Under 16 9 * * 14 * * 20 * * 
			  16-24 81 * * 85 * * 109 * * 
			  25-34 107 68 39 138 81 57 167 109 59 
			  35-44 160 103 57 206 136 71 271 185 86 
			  45-54 154 121 33 236 176 60 297 218 79 
			  55-64 167 119 48 215 158 57 273 199 75 
			  65-74 136 91 45 198 144 54 266 184 83 
			  75 or over 225 116 109 303 159 145 393 211 183 
			  Total 1,039 708 331 1,396 952 444 1,797 1,233 564 
		
	
	
		
			2005-06  2006-07 
			  London borough  Age  Total  Males  Females  Total  Males  Females 
			 Bexley Under 16 31 12 19 25 9 16 
			  16-24 85 51 34 65 42 23 
			  25-34 96 63 33 92 57 36 
			  35-44 162 87 75 130 77 53 
			  45-54 163 100 63 184 120 64 
			  55-64 187 124 63 196 141 54 
			  65-74 175 115 60 217 149 67 
			  75 or over 304 162 142 319 176 142 
			  Total 1,204 715 488 1,228 772 457 
			 
			 Bromley Under 16 27 15 12 29 9 20 
			  16-24 146 83 63 129 76 53 
			  25-34 152 96 56 157 89 68 
			  35-44 294 196 98 281 169 112 
			  45-54 298 200 98 308 193 115 
			  55-64 372 249 123 400 272 128 
			  65-74 378 266 112 423 285 137 
			  75 or over 781 394 387 808 404 404 
			  Total 2,449 1,500 949 2,535 1,497 1,037 
			 
			 Greenwich Under 16 24 10 14 15 * * 
			  16-24 115 69 46 99 * * 
			  25-34 213 138 74 170 118 52 
			  35-44 261 185 76 251 165 86 
			  45-54 299 230 69 335 248 87 
			  55-64 303 218 85 280 202 78 
			  65-74 244 159 85 253 164 89 
			  75 or over 407 219 188 394 205 189 
			  Total 1,867 1,229 638 1,797 1,217 580 
			  Notes: 1. Includes activity in English national health service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. 2. Small numbers To protect patient confidentiality, figures between one and five have been suppressed and replaced with "*" (an asterisk). Where it was possible to identify numbers from the total due to a single suppressed number in a row or column, an additional number (the next smallest) has been suppressed. 3. Alcohol-related admissions The number of alcohol-related admissions is based on the methodology developed by the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO). Following international best practice, the NWPHO methodology includes a wide range of diseases and injuries in which alcohol plays a part and estimates the proportion of cases that are attributable to the consumption of alcohol. Details of the conditions and associated proportions can be found in the report Jones et al. (2008) "Alcohol-attributable fractions for England: Alcohol-attributable mortality and hospital admissions". 4. Emergency admissions Includes all types of emergency admission (Method of admission codes 21-28). 5. Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Finished admission episodes are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. 6. Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital. 7. Secondary diagnoses As well as the primary diagnosis, there are up to 13 (6 prior to 2002-03) secondary diagnosis fields in Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) that show other diagnoses relevant to the episode of care. 8. Number of episodes in which the patient had an alcohol-related primary or secondary diagnosis These figures represent the number of episodes where an alcohol-related diagnosis was recorded in any of the 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a HES record. Each episode is only counted once in each count, even if an alcohol-related diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record. 9. Data Quality HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England. Data is also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care

Climate Change

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of its capacity to adapt to climate change; and what plans he has to publish a climate change adaptation strategy.

Dawn Primarolo: The cross-Government Adapting to Climate Change Programme increases Government's capacity to adapt by ensuring a coordinated approach across all Departments and the public sector. This includes implementation of the adaptation aspects of the Climate Change Act, such as development of the national climate risk assessment. Information about the programme can be found at
	www.defra.gov/adaptation.
	The Department of Health recognises that climate change will affect the health of UK citizens and in February, this year (2008) updated its 2001-02 report on the "Health Effects of Climate Change in the UK". A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.
	Climate impacts affect many departmental responsibilities. We have worked closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to develop the adaptation sections of the Climate Change Act. There are therefore no plans at present to publish a separate climate change adaptation strategy as this would be seen as a duplication of the work that DEFRA are taking forward.
	The key areas for the national health service in adapting to climate change include adapting the health and social care infrastructure (hospitals, nursing homes) to be more resilient to the effects of heat and floods; development of local 'Heatwave' and 'Flood' plans for coping with disasters; and increasing awareness of how people can adapt to changes in climate.
	One of the effects of climate change already encountered in this country is the increased frequency of heat waves. The devastating heat wave across Europe in 2003 led to the Department of Health first launching its National Heatwave Plan in 2004, in which a 'Heat-Health Watch' system operates in England during the summer months, with advice from the Met Office, with four levels of response and appropriate advice.

Depressive Illnesses: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people diagnosed with mild or moderate depression in the London borough of Bexley in the last 12 months.

Phil Hope: The information requested is not held centrally.
	Most people with depression are seen and treated in primary care. However, data on the number of people with individual conditions seen in primary care—such as depression—is not held centrally. While data is available on the total number of people admitted to the care of a consultant in secondary care with depression, this is likely to exclude many patients diagnosed with mild to moderate depression.

Health Education

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Teaching Public Health Networks in providing training opportunities.

Dawn Primarolo: The nine regional Teaching Public Health Networks (TPHNs) were established in 2006, as a commitment arising from Choosing Health. The aim of TPHNs is to establish an integrated and inclusive approach to the development of public health education across organisations and sectors, at all skill and professional levels. They have an important role in raising the awareness of public health education and training opportunities for all professional groups to help them understand how their job influences public health.
	In addition to working on local priorities to change and enhance curricula and skills, to include consideration of public health capabilities and knowledge, the networks are also taking a lead role in reviewing public health educator capacity across academic and service sectors.
	While the primary role of the teaching public health network is not to deliver courses and provide training opportunities, many of the networks have worked on the development of short courses within their lead area.
	No formal assessment of the effectiveness of the TPHNs in providing training opportunities has been carried out to date, although the activity of the networks are formally evaluated by the Department annually. Discussions are currently ongoing to inform the next business planning cycle, including the evaluation of current initiatives such as the TPHNs.

Mental Health Services: Public Consultation

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that they obtain the views of  (a) people who have experience of mental health problems and  (b) organisations that represent people who have experienced mental health problems in their consultation on the Social Care Green Paper.

Phil Hope: The Department ran a public engagement process on the future of Care and Support this year, from 12 May until 28 November, in order to gather views and comments from stakeholders, service users and members of the public to help inform the Green Paper. As part of our work to ensure the engagement process was inclusive, people living with mental health problems were targeted, together with those organisations that represent them. In addition, one-to-one interviews with users of mental health services and organisations that represent them have been carried out by Ipsos-MORI and the Central Office of Information as part of the engagement process.

NHS: Billing

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all NHS trusts purchasing supplies and equipment under central NHS contracts pay invoices within 10 days of receipt.

Ben Bradshaw: David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive, wrote to all NHS Trust Chief Executives on 21 October asking them to examine and review existing payment practices and payment performance and to move as closely as possible to the 10-day payment commitment that has been set for Government Departments wherever practical. This would include where trusts pay suppliers direct through contracts that have been centrally negotiated.

Patients: Death

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths have resulted from patient safety incidents in each year since 1997-98 for which figures are available, broken down by type of incident.

Ann Keen: The table includes the numbers of patient safety incidents associated with the death of a patient that were submitted to the National Patient Safety Agency's Reporting and Learning System each year for the period from the 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2008 broken down by type of incident.
	Information about the number of patient safety incidents associated with the death prior to that date is not included because of the low number incidents submitted to the Reporting and Learning System (RLS) and the reliability of the information available.
	The total number of reported deaths in each financial year represent 0.4 per cent. of all patient safety incidents reported in that year.
	
		
			  Incidents submitted to the RLS as of 1 December 2008—where the date the incident occurred was between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2008, broken down by incident type 
			   Financial year  (April—March) 
			  Incident type  2005  2006  2007 
			 Access, admission, transfer, discharge (including missing patient) 111 158 135 
			 Clinical assessment (including diagnosis, scans, tests, assessments) 109 157 156 
			 Consent, communication, confidentiality 50 51 41 
			 Disruptive, aggressive behaviour 12 14 18 
			 Documentation (including records, identification) 11 10 14 
			 Infection Control Incident 18 150 309 
			 Implementation of care and ongoing monitoring/review 55 75 115 
			 Infrastructure (including staffing, facilities, environment) 38 48 40 
			 Medical device/equipment 32 33 40 
			 Medication 37 50 54 
			 Patient abuse (by staff/third party) 5 12 22 
			 Patient accident 100 133 171 
			 Self-harming behaviour 419 498 487 
			 Treatment, procedure 237 302 385 
			 Other 1,041 1,503 1,658 
			 Total 2,275 3,194 3,645 
		
	
	
		
			  Incidents submitted to the RLS as of 1 December 2008—where the date the incident occurred was between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2008 by financial year (April—March): reported deaths as a proportion of all incidents occurring over the same time period 
			   Financial year  (April—March) 
			  Incident type  2005  2006  2007 
			 Deaths 2,275 3,194 3,645 
			 All incident types 596,138 767,324 892,947 
			 Percentage of incident types  reported as deaths 0.4 0.4 0.4

Smoking

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce the prevalence of smoking.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement issued on 9 December 2008,  Official Report, column 46WS.by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health (Alan Johnson).

Charities: Finance

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to which charities her Department has provided funding of £100,000 or more in each of the last three years; and how much was given to each charity.

Sadiq Khan: Table A sets out the grants given to voluntary non-profit making organisations concerned with homelessness or matters relating to homelessness under section 180 Housing Act 1996 and Table B are other grants paid by the Department to non-profit bodies.
	This may not be a complete list. A complete list could be made available only at a disproportionate cost.
	We are currently taking forward a request from the Office of the Third Sector about spending on their sector by the Department and its agencies for 2006-08 which is due to be completed by the end of December.
	
		
			  Table A 
			  £000 
			  Organisation  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  Total 
			 Aspire 230 230 435 895 
			 Broadway 489 530 545 1,564 
			 Business in the Community 400 500 500 1,400 
			 Centre Point 559 497 836 1,892 
			 Citizens Advice 470 733 585 1,788 
			 City Roads (Odyssey) 109 109 — 218 
			 Connection 110 — — 110 
			 Connection @ St. Martins 821 821 840 2,482 
			 Crisis 270 — 155 425 
			 East Thames Group 942 1,259 697 2,898 
			 Emmaus 146 651 1,020 1,817 
			 Equinox 272 272 272 816 
			 Foyer Federation 400 — — 400 
			 Galleries 2 project 250 — — 250 
			 Homeless link 1,296 1,153 1,690 4,139 
			 House of St. Barnabas 125 106 — 231 
			 Look Ahead 2,006 4,115 2,110 8,231 
			 M25 Group 200 — — 200 
			 Mosaic 764 764 785 2,313 
			 Reading YMCA 165 — — 165 
			 Refuge 165 — — 165 
			 Resource Information Service 2,925 219 237 3,381 
			 Shelter 2,181 2,090 1,802 6,073 
			 St. Christopher 100 — — 100 
			 St. Mungo's 2,742 3,698 2,935 9,375 
			 Thames Reach Bondway 1,576 1,465 1,660 4,701 
			 Training for Life 300 759 — 1,059. 
			 Women's Aid 310 150 100 560 
			 Byker Bridge Housing Association — 500 — 500 
			 Change up funding — 615 — 615 
			 Crime Reduction Initiative — 120 — 120 
			 Northern Network — 197 199 396 
			 Off the Street and into Work — 709 715 1,424 
			 Panahghar — 110 146 256 
			 Relate — 125 125 250 
			 Working Future Project — 1,259 — 1,259 
			 Chartered Institute of Housing — — 500 500 
			 Construction Youth Trust — — 135 135 
			 Derbyshire Housing Aid — — 114 114 
			 Housing Association Charitable Trust — — 220 220 
			 Cranstoun Drug Services — — 120 120 
			 TREES Group — — 240 240 
			 SITRA — — 338 338 
			 YMCA Birkenhead — 300 — 300 
			 YMCA England — 155 382 537 
			 Tyneside Cyrenians — — 107 107 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B 
			  Organisation  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  Total 
			 Burnley Pendle and Rossendale CVS 134 — — 134 
			 Business in the Community — — 130 130 
			 Civic Trust — 706 775 1,481 
			 Community Foundation for Merseyside 148 — — 148 
			 Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) 1,264 — — 1,264 
			 County Durham Foundation 197 — — 197 
			 First Step Trust 742 558 100 1,400 
			 Groundwork UK 3,698 5,332 10,298 19,328 
			 Hyndburn and Ribble Valley CVS 114 — — 114 
			 Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency 165 — — 165 
			 Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Service 381 — — 381 
			 Pendle Community Network Ltd. 101 — — 101 
			 Penwith Community Development Trust 130 — — 130 
			 Scarman Trust 150 — — 150 
			 Sefton Council for Voluntary Service 165 — — 165 
			 St. Helens District CVS Ltd. 152 — — 152 
			 Tameside Third Sector Coalition Ltd. 102 — — 102 
			 Voluntary Action 1,460 — — 1,460 
			 West Cumbria CVS 107 — — 107 
			 Thames Gateway—Groundwork UK 950 — — 950 
			 Wirral CVS 299 — — 299

Fire Services

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what cost estimate her Department based its plans for the administration of each regional fire control centre between the date it became operational and the date the last Fire and Rescue Authority is expected to cut over to a regional control centre.

Sadiq Khan: As individual Fire and Rescue Services cut over to the Regional Control Centre they will pay their relative proportion of the total running cost, with the Department financing the remaining share until all FRSs within a region have cut over. It is for the FRAs within a region to collectively agree what their relative proportions will be.
	The steady state total running cost estimates for the Regional Control Centres are currently those included in the FiReControl Business Case Part 1: the Regional Cases published in July 2008 and summarised in the following table.
	
		
			  Region  Forecast RCC running cost (£000 pa) 
			 EE 7,373 
			 EM 6,262 
			 Lon 10,898 
			 NE 5,405 
			 NW 8,426 
			 SE 8,767 
			 SW 6,992 
			 WM 7,457 
			 YH 7.124 
			 EM 6,262 
		
	
	Copies of the Business Case Part 1 and 2 are available in the House Library or at
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/fire/resilienceresponse/firecontrol/businesscase/

Fire Services

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  on what date each fire and rescue authority is expected to cut over to its regional control centre, broken down by  (a) brigade and  (b) region;
	(2)  what contingency plans she has put in place for fire and rescue services to respond to the potential terrorist threat to the 2012 Olympic Games, in the event that not all fire and rescue authorities cut over to regional control centres by 2012.

Sadiq Khan: On 26 November 2008 I announced a rescheduling of the FiReControl cut over timetable. We have shared an indicative timetable with the Fire and Rescue Services and are validating the revised dates with them directly. The draft timetable, broken down by region and Fire and Rescue Service, is:
	
		
			  Provisional revised FRS cutover timetable for FiReControl  (November 2008) 
			  FRS (by Region)  Provisional revised date( 1) 
			  South West Region  
			 Somerset July 2010 
			 Devon July 2010 
			 Dorset October 2010 
			 Avon November 2010 
			 Cornwall June 2011 
			 Wiltshire August 2011 
			 Gloucestershire October 2011 
			  East Midlands Region  
			 Derbyshire July 2010 
			 Leicestershire October 2010 
			 Nottinghamshire November 2010 
			 Lincolnshire February 2011 
			 Northamptonshire February 2011 
			 North East Region  
			 Tyne and Wear July 2010 
			 Durham and Darlington October 2010 
			 Cleveland November 2010 
			 Northumberland November 2010 
			  West Midlands Region  
			 Staffordshire October 2010 
			 West Midlands FRS November 2010 
			 Shropshire February 2011 
			 Warwickshire June 2011 
			 Hereford and Worcester June 2011 
			  South East Region  
			 Hampshire February 2011 
			 West Sussex June 2010 
			 Royal Berkshire August 2011 
			 Oxfordshire October 2011 
			 Kent October 2011 
			 East Sussex December 2011 
			 Buckinghamshire December 2011 
			 Isle of Wight February 2012 
			 Surrey February 2012 
			  North West Region  
			 Greater Manchester February 2011 
			 Merseyside June 2011 
			 Cumbria August 2011 
			 Cheshire August 2011 
			 Lancashire August 2011 
			  Yorkshire and Humberside Region  
			 West Yorkshire August 2011 
			 South Yorkshire October 2011 
			 North Yorkshire December 2011 
			 Humberside February 2012 
			  East of England Region  
			 Cambridgeshire October 2011 
			 Essex December 2011 
			 Bedfordshire December 2011 
			 Suffolk December 2011 
			 Norfolk February 2012 
			 Hertfordshire February 2012 
			 London  
			 London February 2011 
			 (1) As with any project of this nature, we will only have certainty about the timing of these later stages of the project once earlier stages have been completed successfully. We will be communicating progress on this directly with our stakeholders. 
		
	
	As a consequence of this rescheduling the London cutover moves forward relative to other regions with the entire network due to be in place by February 2012, under current planning assumptions. We will continue to work closely with the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority to review preparations.
	The Home Office is leading work with other Government Departments, the Police and emergency services to develop the Safety and Security plan for the 2012 Games. CLG is working closely with the Fire and Rescue Service and other stakeholders on planning and coordination requirements as part of this process.

Non-Domestic Rates: Ports

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what date she expects rate demands to be issued to port businesses for rates due from 2005; what the Valuation Office Agency's latest assessment of rateable values of port businesses is; when she expects rebates to be paid to port owners for rates overpaid since 2005; and what estimate she has made of the overall value of such rebates.

John Healey: The responsibility for rates bills, issuing demands and rebates lies with the billing authority concerned.
	The following table shows the changes to rateable value in ports that I and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury submitted to the Treasury Select Committee, on 5 November 2008. This represents the most up to date table currently available.
	We cannot estimate the value of rebates as we do not know how much transitional relief each organisation might have received on their rates bills following the 2005 revaluation. Rebates depend upon the amount originally liable, the amount paid after transitional relief, and the amount now liable (with any transitional relief due on that sum).
	
		
			  Table submitted to the Treasury Select Committee on 5 November 2008 
			Pre Review (1 April 2005) 
			  Port  Group  Port RV (URT) (£)  Non Port RV (£)  Total RV (£)  N umber  of  heredita ments 
			 Barrow North West 580,000 641,005 1,221,005 56 
			 Blyth Newcastle 130,000 329,102 459,102 39 
			 Boston East Midlands 125,000 233,755 358,755 7 
			 Bristol Western 5,250,000 15,791,740 21,041,740 109 
			 Dover South East 2,670,000 1,314,515 3,984,515 53 
			 Falmouth South West 130,000 569,375 699,375 21 
			 Felixstowe East Anglia 14,187,000 3,804,585 17,991,585 164 
			 Fleetwood North West 310,000 324,080 634,080 40 
			 Folkestone South East 110,000 23,675 133,675 6 
			 Garston Liverpool 90,000 163,000 253,000 12 
			 Goole Sheffield 940,000 77,891 1,017,891 6 
			 Great Yarmouth East Anglia 400,000 345,485 745,485 28 
			 Grimsby Sheffield 1,350,000 3,884,531 5,234,531 256 
			 Harwich Dock East Anglia 125,000 0 125,000 1 
			 Harwich International East Anglia 4,140,000 1,052,150 5,192,150 20 
			 Heysham North West 1,050,000 6,400 1,056,400 2 
			 Hull Sheffield 9,000,000 2,944,075 11,944,075 75 
			 Humber Sea Terminal Sheffield — — — — 
			 Immingham Sheffield 17,930,000 2,653,050 20,583,050 40 
			 Ipswich East Anglia 580,000 1,207,640 1,787,640 64 
			 King's Lynn East Anglia 185,000 575,750 760,750 15 
			 Liverpool Liverpool 16,500,000 3,697,650 20,197,650 43 
			 Lowestoft East Anglia 150,000 853,250 1,003,250 30 
			 Manchester Ship Canal Liverpool 1,400,000 0 1,400,000 1 
			 Newhaven South East 75,000 0 75,000 1 
			 Plymouth Cattedown South West 91,000 184,000 275,000 2 
			 Plymouth Millbay South West 150,000 — — — 
			 Poole South West 425,000 — — — 
			 Port of London East Anglia 200,000 0 200,000 1 
			 Portsmouth Wessex 5,400,000 1,828,965 7,228,965 60 
			 Ramsgate South East 97,500 — — — 
			 SCT Wessex 9,650,000 0 9,650,000 1 
			 Seaham Newcastle 200,000 122,500 322,500 3 
			 Sharpness Western 170,000 0 170,000 1 
			 Sheerness South East 9,070,000 1,397,690 10,467,690 44 
			 Shoreham South East 100,000 888,975 988,975 17 
			 Southampton Wessex 9,400,000 11,865,270 21,265,270 113 
			 Sunderland Newcastle 95,000 1,093,650 1,188,650 15 
			 TCS East Anglia 3,400,000 0 3,400,000 1 
			 Teesport Newcastle 5,500,000 3,259,050 8,759,050 57 
			 Teignmouth South West 550,000 0 550,000 1 
			 Thamesport South East 2,475,000 393,500 2,868,500 5 
			 Tilbury East Anglia 2,725,000 5,149,825 7,874,825 95 
			 Tyne Newcastle 900,000 3,031,300 3,931,300 49 
			 Workington North West 95,000 169,355 264,355 4 
			 Summary for England  128,100,500 69,876,784 197,304,784 1,558 
			 Change in England  — — — — 
			   
			 Barry South Wales 135,000 1,597,015 1,732,015 92 
			 Cardiff South Wales 325,000 1,527,850 1,852,850 34 
			 Fishguard South Wales 1,600,000 72,900 1,672,900 9 
			 Holyhead North Wales 4,000,000 45,115 4,045,115 16 
			 Milford Dock Company South Wales 115,000 440,510 555,510 61 
			 Milford Haven Port Authority South Wales 530,000 — — — 
			 Mostyn North Wales 87,500 437,500 525,000 3 
			 Newport South Wales 1,850,000 1,449,775 3,299,775 25 
			 Port Talbot South Wales 150,000 16,543,350 16,693,350 23 
			 Swansea South Wales 310,000 258,575 568,575 14 
			 Summary for Wales  9,102,500 22,372,590 30,945,090 277 
			   
			 Totals (excl. Milford Haven, Ramsgate, Poole and Plymouth Millbay)  136,000,500 92,249,374 228,249,874 1,835 
			   
			 Change England plus Wales  2005 2006 2007 — 
		
	
	
		
			Post Review (1 April 2005)  Cumulative Change 
			  Port  Group  Port  RV (URT) (£)  Non Port RV (£)  Total RV (£)  Number of hereditaments  RV (+/-)(£)  Number  of heredita ments (+/-) 
			 Barrow North West 575,000 643,555 1,218,555 57 -2,450 1 
			 Blyth Newcastle 100,000 386,062 486,062 52 26,960 13 
			 Boston East Midlands 125,000 333,625 458,625 20 99,870 13 
			 Bristol Western 2,635,000 15,816,760 18,451,760 114 -2,589,980 5 
			 Dover South East 2,670,000 2,104,316 4,774,316 118 789,801 65 
			 Falmouth South West 130,000 586,825 716,825 22 17,450 1 
			 Felixstowe East Anglia 14,187,000 4,077,885 18,264,885 172 273,300 8 
			 Fleetwood North West 245,000 325,680 570,680 41 -63,400 1 
			 Folkestone South East 25,000 111,625 136,625 11 2,950 5 
			 Garston Liverpool 82,500 978,050 1,060,550 20 807,550 8 
			 Goole Sheffield 205,000 2,960,095 3,165,095 32 2,147,204 26 
			 Great Yarmouth East Anglia 400,000 425,985 825,985 32 80,500 4 
			 Grimsby Sheffield 500,000 6,064,881 6,564,881 271 1,330,350 15 
			 Harwich Dock East Anglia 150,000 4,425 154,425 3 29,425 2 
			 Harwich International East Anglia 2,125,000 2,317,975 4,442,975 24 -749,175 4 
			 Heysham North West 1,050,000 687,340 1,737,340 13 680,940 11 
			 Hull Sheffield 3,100,000 14,264,685 17,364,685 114 5,420,610 39 
			 Humber Sea Terminal Sheffield — — — — — — 
			 Immingham Sheffield 11,000,000 11,534,115 22,534,115 75 1,951,065 35 
			 Ipswich East Anglia 512,500 1,743,980 2,256,480 74 468,840 10 
			 King's Lynn East Anglia 175,000 686,000 861,000 24 100,250 9 
			 Liverpool Liverpool 6,800,000 16,969,760 23,769,760 127 3,572,110 84 
			 Lowestoft East Anglia 150,000 926,510 1,076,510 36 73,260 6 
			 Manchester Ship Canal Liverpool 1,400,000 0 1,400,000 1 0 0 
			 Newhaven South East 75,000 0 75,000 1 0 0 
			 Plymouth Cattedown South West 91,000 184,000 275,000 2 0 0 
			 Plymouth Millbay South West — — — — — — 
			 Poole South West — — — — — — 
			 Port of London East Anglia 200,000 0 200,000 1 0 0 
			 Portsmouth Wessex 5,400,000 1,839,575 7,239,575 65 10,610 5 
			 Ramsgate South East — — — — — — 
			 SCT Wessex 9,500,000 69,700 9,569,700 10 -80,300 9 
			 Seaham Newcastle 165,000 132,819 297,819 10 -24,681 7 
			 Sharpness Western 170,000 109,750 279,750 5 109,750 4 
			 Sheerness South East 2,125,000 4,431,570 6,556,570 98 -3,911,120 54 
			 Shoreham South East 100,000 931,725 1,031,725 21 42,750 4 
			 Southampton Wessex 7,500,000 13,723,675 21,223,675 134 -41,595 21 
			 Sunderland Newcastle 95,000 1,165,150 1,260,150 30 71,500 15 
			 TCS East Anglia 3,400,000 35,300 3,435,300 4 35,300 3 
			 Teesport Newcastle 1,000,000 3,595,785 4,595,785 72 -4,163,265 15 
			 Teignmouth South West 490,000 153,000 643,000 2 93,000 1 
			 Thamesport South East 2,240,000 648,475 2,888,475 17 19,975 12 
			 Tilbury East Anglia 2,100,000 10,416,975 12,516,975 131 4,642,150 36 
			 Tyne Newcastle 616,500 3,375,840 3,992,340 63 61,040 14 
			 Workington North West 65,000 173,805 238,805 8 -25,550 4 
			 Summary for England  83,674,500 124,937,278 208,611,778 2,127 11,306,994 569 
			 Change in England  -44,426,000 55,060,494 — 569 — — 
			 
			 Barry South Wales 122,500 1,715,415 1,837,915 97 105,900 5 
			 Cardiff South Wales 300,000 2,261,950 2,561,950 64 709,100 60 
			 Fishguard South Wales 1,000,000 94,900 1,094,900 12 -578,000 3 
			 Holyhead North Wales 4,000,000 146,585 4,146,585 27 101,470 11 
			 Milford Dock Company South Wales 115,000 473,135 588,135 65 32,625 4 
			 Milford Haven Port Authority South Wales — — — — — — 
			 Mostyn North Wales 87,500 442,050 529,550 4 4,550 1 
			 Newport South Wales 1,750,000 1,593,090 3,343,090 37 43,315 12 
			 Port Talbot South Wales 150,000 16,602,400 16,752,400 29 59,050 6 
			 Swansea South Wales 310,000 802,675 1,112,675 23 544,100 9 
			 Summary for Wales  7,835,000 24,132,200 31,967,200 358 1,022,110 111 
			 
			 Totals (excl. Milford Haven, Ramsgate, Poole and Plymouth Millbay)  91,509,500 149,069,478 240,578,978 2,485 12,329,104 680 
			 
			 Change England plus Wales  -44,491,000 56,820,104 5.40% increase 36.70% increase — —

Regional Planning and Development: South West

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many responses she has received to the latest consultation on the South West Regional Spatial Strategy in respect of  (a) the whole document,  (b) HMA 7, area of search 7D/E/F and  (c) HMA 7, area of search 7B.

Sadiq Khan: holding answer 9 December 2008
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 December 2008,  Official Report, column 62W. Officials at the Government office for the south west are currently assessing the 35,000 responses received and, at this stage, it is not possible to say how many responses are concerned with specific proposals of the Regional Spatial Strategy.

Repossession Orders

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many home repossessions there were in  (a) England,  (b) the North West,  (c) Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council area and  (d) Cheadle constituency in (i) 2007 and (ii) to date in 2008.

Iain Wright: There are two independent sources of data on actual numbers of mortgage possessions: The Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Financial Services Authority. However information from both are only available for the United Kingdom as a whole.
	The Department does not collect information on mortgage possessions although information for the United Kingdom as a whole is published by the Council of Mortgage lenders and the Financial Services Authority.
	The Council of Mortgage Lenders data is available on their website at:
	http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/filegrab/3AP4.xls?ref=2753.
	The Financial Services Authority data are available on their website at:
	http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Doing/Regulated/Returns/lRR/statistics/.

Non-Domestic Rates: Empty Property

John Leech: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the evidential basis was for the statement in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report that 70 per cent. of all empty properties would be covered by the temporary increase in the threshold for empty property relief.

Angela Eagle: Communities and Local Government publishes details of revenue received through business rates by region and according to value bands.
	The data is available at:
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/stats/lgfs/2008/lgfs18/LGFS18-2-3a.xls

Revenue and Customs: Pay

Jennifer Willott: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans there are to pay bonuses to staff at the Tax Credit Office in 2008-09.

Ian Pearson: Details on how HMRC rewards performance can be found in the Departmental Report and Departmental Accounts available at
	www.hmrc.gov.uk.

Armed Forces: Postal Services

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Christmas mail packages sent to armed forces personnel have been returned to the original sender in the last three months.

Bob Ainsworth: This data is not recorded.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer given to the hon. Member for Congleton of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1170W, on armoured vehicles 
	(1)  for how long it has been his Department's policy to refit unarmoured Jackals with armour;
	(2)  whether his Department plans to buy more unarmoured Jackals; what the cost of the improvement programme is; and where the vehicles have been operating.

Quentin Davies: The Department has not procured any unarmoured Jackals, nor does it intend to in the future. The Jackal configuration has always included the armour and, as the armour fit is a part of the vehicle base standard, there is no additional cost for fitting it. 13 vehicles were, however, released early to the training fleet before the armour was fitted to facilitate training. These vehicles have not been used on operations and are in service only within the UK-based training fleet. 12 of the 13 vehicles are currently undergoing a programme to fit the armour retrospectively at no cost to the Department.

Development Aid: Disabled

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make extra funding available to assist people with disabilities in the developing world.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) recognises disability as a key development issue and for this reason we have already been looking for opportunities to increase our support to disability issues.
	DFID recently committed £868,000 to the new Disability Rights Fund which is a unique and innovative grant-making mechanism designed to provide funding directly to disabled people's organisations (DPOs) in the global south and eastern Europe/former Soviet Union. DFID is one of five international donors currently contributing to the fund which has just made its first round of grants to 33 DPOs across Africa and Asia.
	In recognition of the fact that more data on disability is urgently needed DFID recently committed £2.2 million to a five-year cross-cutting disability research programme to begin in January 2009. This will increase the amount of robust data available which more clearly demonstrates the links between disability and poverty in developing countries. It will work closely with research currently being carried out by the Southern Africa Federation of Disabled People's Research Project (£2.2 million) which has been running since 2007. This five-year project which has been designed and run by disabled people in the region, has already started to produce evidence of the kinds of barriers disabled people face when trying to access basic services like health and education.

GCSE

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of children obtained five good GCSEs including English and mathematics, excluding equivalents, in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: The information requested is given in the table below:
	
		
			   Number of pupils achieving 5 GCSEs only at grades A*-C including English and maths  Percentage of pupils achieving 5 GCSEs only at grades A*-C including English and maths 
			 2008 295,170 45.2 
			 2007 286,616 43.7 
			 2006 288,761 44.5 
			 2005 279,200 43.9 
			 2004 271,723 42.2 
			 2003 258,273 41.5 
			 2002 253,774 41.8 
			 2001 244,645 40.5 
			 2000 231,657 39.9 
			 1999 224,089 38.6 
			 1998 212,305 36.9 
			 1997 209,075 35.6 
			  Note: The 2008 data is provisional and subject to change. 
		
	
	Please note that the data for 2005-07 are based on pupils at the end of KS4 and years 2003 to 1997 are based on 15-year-old pupils at the start of the academic year.

GCSE

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many and what percentage of  (a) boys and  (b) girls in (i) pupil referral units, (ii) alternative provision and (iii) special schools obtained at least five A* to C including English and mathematics at GCSE in 2008;
	(2)  how many and what percentage of  (a) boys and  (b) girls in (i) pupil referral units, (ii) alternative provision and (iii) special schools obtained at least five A* to C GCSEs in 2008;
	(3)  how many and what percentage of  (a) boys and  (b) girls in (i) pupil referral units, (ii) alternative provision and (iii) special schools obtained at least one C grade or above at GCSE in 2008.

Jim Knight: Information on the attainment of pupils in alternative provision is not available.
	Provisional information on pupils in pupil referral units and special schools can be found in table 5 of the following Statistical First Release:
	 DCSF: GCSE and Equivalent Results in England, 2007/08 (Provisional)
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000815/index.shtml
	Schools get the opportunity to amend their results during the checking exercise before the revised data is published in January 2009.

Departmental Pay

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what bonuses were paid by his Department in 2007-08; to which members of staff; and for what purposes.  [Official Report, 27 February 2009, Vol. 488, c. 3MC.]

Si�n Simon: Non-consolidated bonuses paid in the Department were paid to 51 per cent. of staff in 2007-08. Bonuses are judged on delivery of agreed objectives and behaviours.

Manufacturing Sector

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent representations he has received from representatives of the manufacturing sector on the global financial situation.

Ian Pearson: We continue to receive representations and views from all across the manufacturing sector; employers, trade unions and others, on a regular basis to discuss the global financial situation, as well as other issues that are of immediate concern.

Internet Governance Forum

Alun Michael: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department is taking to promote engagement in the work of the Internet Governance Forum.

Gareth Thomas: The Government are committed to ensuring the success of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The UK Government are a leading donor, supporting the IGF Secretariat this year, will continue to seek to ensure that the benefits of this multi-stakeholder dialogue are maximised for both the UK and the international community, much of whose success, is due to the efforts of my right hon. Friend.

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what funding his Department is providing to assist small and medium-sized enterprises in 2008-09.

Ian Pearson: The Department's Action for Business Programme provides up to 7 billion of support to businesses in the UK.
	This year, over 140 million has been channelled through Business Link to offer direct support services to over 850,000 businesses, 360 million of lending through the Small Firms Loan Guarantee and 50 million being committed through Enterprise Capital Funds.

Rashid Rauf

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made representations to  (a) the government of Pakistan and  (b) the government of the USA on the reported death of Mr. Rashid Rauf on 21 November 2008.

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the US Administration on the reported killing of Rashid Rauf in Pakistan.

Bill Rammell: We do not have confirmation of the death of Rashid Rauf. Following a request from his family, we have requested official confirmation from the Government of Pakistan.
	No specific representation has been made to the US Administration.

Archives: Publicity

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking in conjunction with the National Archives to improve  (a) standards in and  (b) awareness of the archive sector, including local and private archives.

Michael Wills: The National Archives has a key role within Government to support all parts of the archives sector in the United Kingdom by providing both strategic and practical advice on all aspects of records and archives management.
	It is taking forward a range of activities to help raise standards including:
	Facilitating an annual self-assessment exercise for local authority funded archives to help raise the standards of the services they provide to the public;
	Issuing a range of written guidance, available on The National Archives' website (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) on all matters relating to the creation, management, care, and use of records and archives and all strategic issues arising from this;
	Offering bespoke strategic and operational advice to archive service on many aspects of archives administration and information management;
	Administering 335,000 worth of grants to help archives tackle their backlogs in cataloguing records.
	The National Archives is also taking steps to raise awareness of the archives sector. It is working closely, for example, with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council to fund the Archives Awareness Campaign, run by The National Council on Archives, which aims to improve awareness of archives among the general public and to improve engagement with younger people and black and ethnic minority communities.
	To ensure its long-term sustainability, they are also working together to enable the sector is able to raise their capability, channel their resources more effectively and share best practice.

High Visibility Payback Scheme

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the high visibility payback scheme in meeting its objectives; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: Probation areas have been required to promote the unpaid work community sentence to the public as community payback since 2005. This has been done in a number of ways, including the use of signs on work sites and vehicles. Probation areas have also done imaginative work to generate local publicity in order to increase public awareness of the work done by offenders to improve local communities.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (Mr. Straw) announced that offenders sentenced to unpaid work will be required to wear distinctive high visibility clothing from 1 December. Further work is being undertaken to determine the level of public awareness in community payback.

Intellectual Property: Training

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment his Department has made of the merits of training in intellectual property law for judges and magistrates and their advisers; and what guidance has been issued to the Judicial Studies Board pursuant to recommendation 44 of the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property.

Jack Straw: Responsibility for judicial training lies with the Lord Chief Justice as head of the judiciary and is exercised through the Judicial Studies Board (JSB), an independent body chaired by Lord Justice Maurice Kay. It would not therefore be appropriate for me to issue guidance on judicial training to the JSB.
	The JSB's Magisterial Committee considered this recommendation. Because of the infrequency and relatively straightforward nature of such cases heard in the magistrates courts, and the fact that magistrates have qualified legal advisors to advise them on the principles involved, it was not thought appropriate to train all magistrates and legal advisors.
	A paper entitled The law relating to criminal offences involving infringement of intellectual property rights was commissioned from a senior QC and is available to judicial office holders and legal advisors on the JSB training website.
	Intellectual Property is a specialist area dealt with by a small cadre of specialist judges. It has not been the practice of the JSB to focus on teaching specialist substantive law, and the primary responsibility remains with judges (as with professional lawyers) for updating themselves. The relevant jurisdictional law still provides the background for all JSB training and any important changes will be highlighted at relevant training events.

Open Prisons: Prisoner Escapes

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many absconds there were from open prisons in England and Wales in each of the last 24 months; and how many offences were committed by such offenders while unlawfully at large.

David Hanson: Levels of absconding have been falling steadily for some years now and are currently at their lowest levels since central recording of this data began in 1995. The following table shows the numbers of prisoners absconding from prisons in England and Wales in each of the last 24 months and numbers of further offences committed while unlawfully at large.
	
		
			  prisoners absconding from prisons in England and qales and number of further offences committed while unlawfully at large 
			  Month  Total prisoners absconding  Further offences committed while unlawfully at large 
			 December 2006 44 3 
			 January 2007 31 3 
			 February 2007 44 8 
			 March 2007 51 7 
			 April 2007 49 7 
			 May 2007 41 5 
			 June 2007 53 4 
			 July 2007 35 9 
			 August 2007 50 10 
			 September 2007 42 10 
			 October 2007 44 8 
			 November 2007 50 5 
			 December 2007 55 7 
			 January 2008 26 2 
			 February 2008 32 7 
			 March 2008 37 6 
			 April 2008 41  
			 May 2008 28 1 
			 June 2008 36 6 
			 July 2008 18 1 
			 August 2008 37 7 
			 September 2008 31 1 
			 October 2008 38  
			 November 2008 31 2 
			 Total 944 125 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
	Figures on absconds and a range of other prison performance statistics are also available at:
	http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/abouttheservice/prisonperformance/performancestatistics/

Prevention of Corruption Act 1906

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.

Maria Eagle: The Government believe the current law on bribery, including the Prevention, of Corruption Act 1906, is functional but is fragmented and needs to be brought up to date. We announced in the Legislative Programme our intention to publish a draft Bribery Bill this Session which would replace the existing Prevention of Corruption. Acts. We are currently assessing the Law Commission's report on 'Reforming Bribery' that was published on 20 November 2008.

Prisoners: Crimes of Violence

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what programmes were operating in prisons in relation to prisoners who were serving sentences for hate crimes at the latest date for which information is available;
	(2)  what  (a) funding and  (b) other assistance his Department is providing to the Anne Frank Trust for its projects involving offenders in prison and young offenders institutions in 2008-09;
	(3)  what programmes his Department has put in place to work with those convicted of hate crime to reduce their levels of re-offending;
	(4)  what programmes his Department has put in place to work with those people for whom hatred or racism played a part in their crime to reduce their re-offending;
	(5)  which  (a) prisons and  (b) probation services have established programmes to reduce rates of re-offending amongst individuals imprisoned for hate crimes.

David Hanson: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) offers a range of accredited programmes for offenders based on their specific behavioural needs as well as other activities such as education, work, resettlement and training. The programmes are accredited to be responsive to the diverse needs of offenders. There are no accredited offending behaviour programmes targeted specifically at offenders who have been convicted or are serving sentences for crimes where hate or racism was an aggravating factor. Many of the existing accredited programmes address risk factors found in such offenders.
	Some establishments and probation areas also deliver non-accredited programmes which are agreed locally to meet a particular need. Information on all these courses is not currently collated centrally. NOMS is aware that Merseyside, West Yorkshire and London probation areas have developed local packages to address issues around hatred and racially motivated offending.
	NOMS is currently undertaking a census of non-accredited programmes delivered in custody and the community, which will show the number and type of programmes available for hate crime offenders. Following the census, there will be a programme of work to assess the benefits of certain interventions in addressing particular types of offending. Locally developed programmes that tackle hate crime are likely to fall into scope for such a review.
	Work with the Anne Frank Trust has been agreed locally by some prisons and young offender institutions to meet particular needs. Details of the funding arrangements and nature of the assistance provided is not centrally recorded.

Prisoners: Rehabilitation

Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what re-settlement support is made available by his Department to prisoners seeking employment.

David Hanson: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) works in partnership with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Job Centre Plus (JCP), and is engaged with employers nationally, regionally, and locally to offer training and employment to offenders.
	Job Centre Plus have employment and benefit advisers located in most prisons to provide prisoners with advice and information about employment opportunities available on release, and can arrange an appointment with a new claims adviser prior to release. Prisoners can also be fast tracked on to the New Deal employment programme.
	NOMS recognises that it is more difficult for offenders to find employment if they have problems accessing accommodation and financial services. We are currently working with key stakeholders to explore and formally pilot initiatives such as accessing bank accounts whilst in custody, rent arrears payment schemes and preventing accommodation loss.
	The Ministry of Justice also has established a corporate alliance of over 100 employers working to maximise employment opportunities for prisoners prior to, and on release.

Prostitution: Offenders

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many people have been  (a) prosecuted for and  (b) convicted of common prostitution, loitering or soliciting for the purpose of prostitution under the terms of the Street Offences Act 1959 in each of the last two years; and how many of them were (i) UK citizens, (ii) EU foreign nationals and (iii) non- EU foreign nationals;
	(2)  how many people have been  (a) prosecuted for and  (b) convicted of placing an advertisement relating to prostitution in each of the last two years; and how many of them were (i) UK citizens, (ii) EU foreign nationals and (iii) non-EU foreign nationals;
	(3)  how many people have been  (a) prosecuted for and  (b) convicted of kerb-crawling in each of the last two years; and how many of them were (i) UK citizens, (ii) EU foreign nationals and (iii) non-EU foreign nationals.

Maria Eagle: The information requested covering offences relating to prostitution is provided in the table for 2006 and 2007 (latest available). The data held centrally by my Department on the Court Proceedings Database does not contain information about the nationality status of the offender other than the information that may be gleaned from the offence itself.
	The figures given relate to defendants for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	
		
			  The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to prostitution, by year, 2006 and 2007( 1,2) 
			2006  2007 
			  Offence  Statute  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 Common prostitute loitering or soliciting for the purposes of prostitution Street Offences Act 1959 845 648 874 526 
			 Placing of advertisement relating to prostitution Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 431 392 366 341 
			 Kerb crawling Sexual Offences Act 1985 625 532 554 491 
			 (1) Figures given are on a principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Office for Criminal Justice ReformEvidence and Analysis unit

Tackling Knives Action Programme

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many persons convicted for carrying a knife in one of the 10 Tackling Knives Action Programme pilots have  (a) been sentenced to custody and  (b) been given a community programme that did not involve unpaid work;
	(2)  how many  (a) adults,  (b) 18 to 21 year olds and  (c) juveniles were sentenced for offences involving a knife or other bladed article in (i) Greater Manchester, (ii) Lancashire, (iii) London, (iv) the West Midlands, (v) West Yorkshire, (vi) the Thames Valley, (vii) Merseyside, (viii) Essex, (ix) Nottinghamshire and (x) South Wales in (A) August, (B) September, (C) October and (D) November 2008; how many in each age category in each area received a (1) custodial and (2) community sentence; and of those receiving a community sentence, how many were ordered to undertake a 300 hour community payback sentence on up to five days each week.

David Hanson: Finalised data for sentencing for knife and offensive weapon possession in the 10 Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) areas in 2008 will not be available until Sentencing Statistics 2008 is published in November 2009. However, as part of TKAP, provisional data from management information systems are being gathered. These data are not sufficiently robust to be broken down into the detail requested, and will be subject to continual revision.
	In the TKAP areas in August and September 2008 (the most recent period for which data are available), the Police National Computer records that 768 community sentences and 529 custodial sentences were given for knife and offensive weapon possession. More detail is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Sentences for knife and offensive weapon possession in August and September 2008 split by age from police national computer 
			  Age band  Community sentences  Custodial sentences( 1) 
			 10 to 17 307 36 
			 18 to 20 139 104 
			 21 and over 322 389 
			 All ages 768 529 
			 (1) Excludes suspended sentence orders. 
		
	
	Data from the Probation Service relating to unpaid work requirements under Community Orders started in England and Wales with a sentence length of 300 hours; indicate fewer than 10 in 2007, and data is still being finalised for 2008 as it is unusual for the courts to sentence at the very maximum of any disposal. There were 269 Community Orders started for possession of offensive weapons in the 10 TKAP areas between July and September 2008 which did not involve unpaid work.
	All the figures quoted in this answer have been taken from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Young Offender Institutions: Crimes of Violence

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many incidents of violence between inmates have been recorded in Feltham A and Feltham B young offender institution in each of the last 12 months;
	(2)  how many and what punishments have been issued by the Governor of Feltham A and B young offender institution to inmates involved in violence within the institution in the last six months.

David Hanson: Central NOMS data does not use the term 'incidents of violence'; information is recorded under the term assaults. The following tables show incidents of prisoner on prisoner assaults in Feltham A and Feltham B in the last 12 months.
	The information is set out in the tables and is subject to important qualifications. The NOMS incident reporting system processes high volumes of data which are constantly being updated. The numbers provide an indication of overall numbers but should not be interpreted as absolute.
	Assault data are complex and the numbers need to be interpreted with caution. Information recorded as assault incidents may involve one or many prisoners as some assault incidents may involve more than one assailant or more than one victim.
	The numbers supplied refer to the number of individual assault incidents. The numbers refer to all incidents recorded as assaults; these may also include threatening behaviour, projection of bodily fluids and other non-contact events and allegations.
	Ministers, NOMS and the Prison Officers' Association are collectively committed to ensuring that violence in prisons is not tolerated in any form. Since 2004, a national strategy has directed every public sector prison to have in place a local violence reduction strategy and since mid 2007 this has been applied to the public and contracted out estate. A whole prison approach is encouraged, engaging all staff, all disciplines and prisoners in challenging unacceptable behaviour, problem-solving and personal safety.
	
		
			  Table 1: Assault incidents in Feltham A in the last 12 months 
			   Number 
			  2007  
			 December 23 
			   
			  2008  
			 January 28 
			 February 25 
			 March 27 
			 April 33 
			 May 36 
			 June 31 
			 July 28 
			 August 25 
			 September 34 
			 October 25 
			 November 35 
			  Note: Feltham A holds young people 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Assault incidents in Feltham B in the last 12 months 
			   Number 
			  2007  
			 December 12 
			   
			  2008  
			 January 11 
			 February 13 
			 March 11 
			 April 15 
			 May 16 
			 June 10 
			 July 10 
			 August 24 
			 September 26 
			 October 29 
			 November 22 
			  Note: Feltham B holds young adults 
		
	
	The average population at HMYOI Feltham during this period was 609. Age is a known risk factor and younger prisoners are more likely to be involved in assaults than older prisoners. As regrettable as each assault incident is, the numbers are within the expected range.
	Data on proven adjudications and the punishments imposed at each prison are not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Adjudication awards are determined at a local level and therefore those awarded at HMYOI Feltham are not comparable to those awarded at other establishments. Data on punishments imposed at adjudications across the estate are published annually in chapter 9 of the Offender Management Caseload Statistics, available on the Ministry of Justice website at
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/omcs2007.pdf.